Post
by Tempester » Wed Apr 14, 2010 6:19 am
Instead of a Volume 1 Review, I'll just review the arc:
The arc review will cover my thoughts on the story of that arc and the characters as well as final thoughts. In future reviews I will comment on things like comedy and action cause I won't have a lot to talk about if I talk about that stuff now. And plus this review is kinda long due to the length of the arc.
Story Arc 1 : 8.5/10
The story: 4/5
One of the best things about this manga is the fact that it has an intresting story without over complicating itself. 7 Balls, gather em, get a wish: simples. I was pleasantly surprised at how simple it was and glad the author decided not to throw in some hidden twist. Of course there's gonna be "potholes" along the way...
The first part of the quest, the introduction made me laugh and kept me intrested. I was liking the characters by the end of the chapter, Son Goku more so because he's so carefree and has a lot to learn. He reminds me of the kid of out of the Jungle Book except more stupid. Heck you even have Sheer Khan (the sabertooth tiger) and Baloo (the bear thief). I'm not too keen on Bulma, she's a bit annoying and all she seems to be there for is to introduce Goku to things and for fanservice. You also have a simple villain which is nice, it'd be weird to jump into a massive battle already. So as I was saying it made me laugh, some nice comedy moments.
The "overnight stuff" was funny as well, I spect many people would be pleased with the amount of fanservice. I'm still not keen on Bulma because she doesn't really do anything but it is nice for Goku to have someone to play off against and to inform him about things.
The next part is my favourite, Kame-Sennin without a doubt is my favourite character in the franchise so far. Eventhough his apperance was brief his actions indicated to me that he'll have me laughing further down the line. The Kinotun and Nyobo (sorry about spellings, not too good at remembering them) seem sort of drugs of the tools world in that Goku probally will have a tendancy to overuse them, and they're strong enough/fast enough. Turtle was a nice supporting character, so was the Bear Thief. I'm loving the wacky characters Akira comes up with, I'll mae sure to comment on that another time.
I wasn't too keen on the next part, Oolong just wasn't a believable villain but I guess that's what makes him funny, I was just looking forward to a proper villain/rival for him. Bulma was ok in this segment, she seems a bit of a man eater but surely she has something better to do, I hate how she makes Goku do all the work, I was glad she didn't get her wish. The battle was ok, but I couldn't really take it seriously.
Another of my favourite parts was the desert stuff, it was nice to see Goku get a rival and someone who can challenge his skills. Yamcha also makes me laugh, I guess every villain has a character trait or weakness that makes them stand out. I could tell that he aspects of his character were created with Bulma in mind. The second part of this segment was probally the funniest in the arc, I liked the whole shapeshifting game that went on, and the interaction between Yamcha and Bulma made me laugh especially the end.
The next part was ok too, even if it did feature a lot of talking as opposed to action. It was great to see Kame Sennin return and actually do something apart from be a pervert though that part made me laugh. The Kamehameha was one of the few things I was aware of before watching the series (the other being the dragon balls and a super saiyan, though no idea what the last one is but it sounds good) but I always thought Goku invented it so it was a surprise to see the lercher use it. I'm not too keen on Gyumao or his daughter, but I did like the revelation that Gyumao was really a big softie, and some of the interaction between Chi-Chi and the other characters. Could she be a love intrest for our hero?
I wasn't a big fan of the Rabbit stuff, it seemed like filler to me with the only canon part being the Goku/Yamcha teamup. I kinda wish they gave the rabbit guy a better ability than turning people into carrots but it was a nice joke. It'd been kinda cool if they had made him a devil rabbit or something that feasted on children, to be honest that would be more funny than scary but it would creep me out. Bulma still seems to be doing nothing but (don't mean to be sexist) in a show about martial arts what can a girl do? Unless they were to introduce some stronger girl characters further down the line.
It was good to get a "proper" villain for the last act even if he and his sidekicks were a bit stupid. At last we saw the dragon (whoop) and I was half expecting the villain to get his wish, it would have made a good second arc if Pilaf ruled the world and Goku had to stop him. It was a surprise that Oolong got his wish but it was a nice surprise though surely he could have wished for something better. And Goku can turn into a giant ape? What the hell? I knew he had to have a tail for a reason, but still, how on earth can turn into a monkey? Guess we'll find out later. So this was a nice old part as it had action, comedy (like Pilaf breaking the fourth wall and the treatment) and it tied up some characters arcs. It was good to see Bulma and Yamcha get together mainly because I hope it'll shut her up.
So this was a really good arc, there were times when it dragged but times when I couldn't put the volume down. For future refrence, my favourite character thus far is Kame Sennin and my least favourite is Bulma. Anything else you wanna know? And as I said I'll discuss action probally when we get to an action-y arc and other things when I feel like it.
. Just a few things I think that you may want to bare in mind is that when Akira Toriyama first started on the manga, he had no idea it was going to turn into this huge storytelling epic as we see it now. I believe he intended it to end after the Pilaf stuff, also the majority of the first volumes will be more comedy based than serious fighting and saving lives because that was Toriyama's intention at that point in time.